Analyzing The Chicano Movement Of The 1960s

From Mexican heroes like Pancho Villa, to vintage lowriders, an eyesore to Anglos who are unaware of the complexity of Chicanx culture. Chicanxs are not confined to society’s preconceived notions that define what it means to be a Mexican-American. Chicanx art is separate from Anglo art, unneeded for the white gaze; it is experiences, spirituality, history, love, and expression of self. The Chicano Movement of the 1960s was the response to the oppression and discrimination of Mexican-Americans in the United States. The movement fueled an emergence of Chicanx art that countered dominant narratives perpetuated by society. The Chicano Mural Movement of the 1960s often depicted political, social, and contemporary themes intertwined with Mexican-American

However, the origins of Mexican muralism can be traced back to the Mayans and Aztecs who used art as a way of religious and political expression. Moreover, the Civil Rights Movement garnered the expression of Chicanx pride through other contemporary art forms. In this essay, I will analyze Chicanx art through murals, paintings, digital prints, and posters to discuss their political significance, themes of Chicana empowerment, and depictions of the Chicanx experience. Accompanied by the efforts of the National Farm Workers Association led by prominent activists, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, came murals that depicted hardships endured by farm workers as a result of cruel working conditions. Juana Alicia’s 1983 mural, Las Lechugueras, is a prime example of activism through art. Las Lechugueras is a mural that depicts a field of female farmworkers being sprayed with pesticides by a hovering plane. Alongside the fields, there is a cruising vehicle, with what appears to be Anglos paying no mind to the deliberate pesticide attacks on immigrant

Stewart: Our Lady of Guadalupe, depicts Yolanda’s mother sewing the blue cloak (Tatum 217). Lopez’s choice to have her mother sew represents the working class and the realistic portrayal of a working woman, specifically garment workers. The last painting, Victoria F. Franco: Our Lady of Guadalupe, is of Yolanda’s grandmother skinning a snake. Her grandmother is visibly elderly, however, she is holding a knife, indicating that she “is no longer struggling with life and sexuality” (Lopez). The lineage of women in the series is representative of Chicanas stepping into their power as generations pass. Moreover, Lopez paints the women as they are; she paints her mother as a fuller woman and all women maintain their indigenous features. This, too, is a form of empowerment for Chicanas who do not fit the conventional standards of beauty. Lopez’s rendition of the prominent female figure in Chicanx culture urges spectators to adopt modern role models, rather than religious ones used to perpetuate machismo. Another artist who uses her art as a form of Chicana empowerment is Alma Lopez. Alma’s digital print, Our Lady, is a digital print of a woman wearing a floral bikini, represented as La Virgen de Guadalupe.